We get to the party, a safe distance between the two of us to avoid any suspicion.
"There they are our Champion and our favourite Artist" Lando shouts, sounding like he already downed some drinks which makes me laugh
"Yeah, I made it" I smile at him and get pulled to his side, away from Max who is forced to sit down far away from me.
"So Dylan, I heard you're dropping your album tomorrow" Lando asks putting his arm around me
"Yeah, im really excited about it" I reply "it has some songs that mean a lot to me and I was scared to release them but now they are on the album and im really hoping the fans will like them"
"Looking forward to them mate, any chance we can get a sample of one the songs?" He asks me
"You gotta wait some more, you can listen to them yourself in a few hours" I tell him and he groans
"Oh man..." he says disappointed making the others, including me laugh
"Sorry buddy, that's the business" I pat his shoulder
"I will get some drinks, anyone else want anything?" Max says and gets up staring at Lando who still has his arm around me
"Yeah can you grab me a beer please" Lando asks and the other drivers ask for beers too
"I'll help you carry that" I say and get up
"Hey you're a guest, you don't need to get us drinks, I got it" Lando says and insists that I sit down and enjoy the party
"So since when did you start watching Formula 1?" George asks me
"Since I was like 10? I never attended races until 2 years ago when Theo Pourchaire got into Formula 3 and now 2" I respond
"Im guessing you and Max connected because of the shared language?" Oscar asks
"Believe it or not Max and I only ever speak and talk English with eachother, I personally dislike speaking dutch, especially since I grew up speaking english to my parents since my Dad was still learning dutch" I give them a little backstory
"Interesting, makes sense that your English is so good then" Oscar says and I give him a smile
I look at Max whose nervous finger tapping on the bar I can notice from a distance
"Yeah, It's my native language but I still got the hint of the Dutch accent" I respond
"So tell us about the song production, how does it all work" George asks
"Oh well, theres multiple ways it can go. Mainly I come up with lyrics and the start of a melody and in the studio we come up with the rhythm, bass, background vocals and all that. Sometime I get a whole song sent to me and get asked to write lyrics to them or me and my producer sit down and write the entire thing together" I explain really enthusiastically since it's a topic I care about a lot
"Seems like a lot of work just for one song" they say
"Well with every song write, I pray that I can change someones life a bit so it's worth all the effort" I respond with a smile as Max and Lando finally get back with our drinks
We cheer and all take a sip of our drinks
"So how are things with you and my brother?" Charles then asks me taking me by surprise and I look at Max with panic in my eyes
"Your brother Arthur?" I say acting dumb
"Yeah, he wouldn't shut up about you and you wanted to see him really bad back in Zandvoort" he says loud enough so the other drivers hear it well enough
"I ehm..." I say worried about how I should respond to that
"Im surprised he isn't here with you" Charles adds and Lando looks at me like I am about to spill the best gossip he will ever hear
"We ehum... It didn't work out the way we wanted to so we broke it off" I tell Charles whose eyes are filled with disappointment "I thought he would've told you"
"Nope, but now I wish he did" Charles responds and Lando looks at me surprised
"You and Arthur? Oh god that Elevator ride must have been awkward for you two" Lando says and I nod my head with a smile
"I'm sure we will live" I tell him and drink some of my beer, I notice Max eyes fixated on me from across the table, making sure I think about my every move so I don't do anything stupid
"Enough talking about relationships, so how are you guys looking at the rest of the season? Hopeful or not?" I ask everyone
"Hopefully we can get one or two podiums out of it, our car hasnt been doing its job all season" George says
"Well ever since our mid season upgrades we're able to keep up, so its looking good so far, right Oscar?" Lando replys and look at oscar
"Yeah, hopefully we can overtake the Aston Martins on the constructors championship" Oscar adds to Landos reply
I try to ignore the Blue eyes watching me and act like im friends with everyone
"Carlos, you have been quiet whats up?" I ask him
"Nothing, I am just listening to you all talk" he says and I sigh as I hoped for a better response, and my eyes lock with the dutch mans, the tension that we left in the hotel room suddenly joining us at the club and fuck its hard to resist
"Enough with these disgusting beers, I will get us a round of tequila shots" I interrupt the eye contact and get up, walking to the bar ordering a round of shots for the table
"6 shots?" The bartender asks
"10" I correct him and sit down at the bar as he prepares them, I focus on his pouring technique, how he pours the exact same amount into every glass and hands me the round tablet with the 10 glasses
"Thank you" I say and hand him my card to pay for the drinks and he quickly swipes it on the card reader and hands it back to me
"Have fun" he says and I grab the tablet and turn around, nearly dropping the shots while I get scared by Max standing there
"Oh fuck" I shout
"Its just me, im not that scary" he chuckles
"Why didn't you say anything? Or warn me, I nearly dropped the shots" I say recovering from that scare
"I got these" he says and takes the tablet out of my hand, his fingers intentionally caressing my hands as he smiles at our touch
"I could've carried them too" I say and let go
"I know, I just wanted to feel your touch again" he says and winks at me
"We got to dial it down, like you said, nothing suspicious in public" I tell him and he groans
"I know, you being here, looking so lovely is just making it really difficult for me to thing straight" he says, flattering me which makes me blush lightly
"I... I know, thats why I had to interrupt our moment in the hotel, we need to work on our self control" I say before we get close enough to the others and I smile at them as I take the shots if the tablet and hand them around
"Cheers" we say and take the shot, feeling the tequila burn down my throat, going down the wrong way and I start coughing uncontrollably
"Are you alright?" George asks worried
"Yeah, something went down the wrong way. I'll get some water real quick" I say and walk towards the bathroom while coughing to drink some water from the sink since I don't see why I should pay 3€ for a small bottle
I take a couple sips of water and wash my face a bit because my eyes started tearing up because of it
Once I dried up my face and check myself out in the mirror I see a pair of eyes staring at me in the reflection
